Molded sectional reel

Abstract

A reel is formed of a plastic molded hub and side, disk-like flanges. The hub is made of thin-wall, cylindrical rings that are arranged end-to-end, and the flanges are made of two or more separate radial sections having radially oriented, overlapped edges that fasten together. Removable mechanical fasteners extend through passageways formed in the hub rings and through the flanges for fastening them together. The width of the reel may be varied by changing the number of rings. The diameters of the flanges may be varied by blocking off the outer portions of the mold in which the flask sections are molded to remove selected amounts of the peripheral portions of the sections for reducing the flange diameter. The hub rings and flange sections are interchangeable with like rings and sections for repair or reduced inventory purposes.

Having fully described at least one operative embodiment, I now claim: 
     
       1. A reel formed of a central hub with radially outwardly extending flanges on the opposite ends of the hub, comprising: the hub being a plastic molded, thin-wall, relatively wide ring having an exterior wall surface, about which a reeled article may be wound, and an interior wall surface, and opposite, narrow, annular edges defining the opposite ends of the ring;   said flanges being formed of generally flat, disk-like plastic moldings having a central portion for overlying the ends of the hub and an outer portion for extending radially outwardly of the hub;   a continuous annular seat formed on the faces of the flanges adjacent to the hub ends and corresponding in shape to the hub edges, with said hub edges each engaging against its adjacent seat;   a number of elongated passageways integrally molded on the interior surface of the hub wall, with the passageways being circumferentially spaced apart and being arranged parallel to the axis of the hub;   elongated fasteners extending through the passageways and through corresponding aligned openings formed in the flange portions overlapping the ends of the hub, and with the fasteners rigidly securing the flanges to the hub;   said flanges being formed of plastic molded, substantially identical, radial sections, with each section having an exterior peripheral edge defining a portion of the periphery of the flange and having an outer portion forming part of the flange between the flange peripheral edge and the hub, and an inner portion overlapping a portion of the hub;   the adjacent radially directed edges of each section being formed to interengage with each other and being fastened together to form the rigid complete flanges;   whereby different flange sections may be interchanged and fastened together and to the hub for forming an assembled reel.   
     
     
       2. A reel as defined in claim 1, and said elongated fasteners comprising removable bolts extending through passageways formed internally of the hub and through the opposite flanges for releasably fastening the hub and flange sections together. 
     
     
       3. A reel as defined in claim 1, and including each of said flanges being formed of at least two radial flange sections. 
     
     
       4. A reel as defined in claim 3, and including the adjacent edges of each of the flange sections having integral, narrow strip-forming portions which portions are overlapped and fastened together to form the complete flange. 
     
     
       5. A reel as defined in claim 1, and including each of the flanges being formed of more than two pie-slice-shaped sections. 
     
     
       6. A reel as defined in claim 5, and including aligned holes formed in the overlapped edges of the adjacent flanges sections and including removable fasteners extending through the holes for fastening the sections together. 
     
     
       7. A reel as defined in claim 6, and including each of the flanges formed of spoke-like extensions extending radially to the outer peripheral edge of the flange,and including hoop-like rings interconnecting the spokes at predetermined locations spaced from the axial center of each flange. 
     
     
       8. A reel as defined in claim 1, and including central sockets formed at the axial center line of the hub in each of the opposite flanges for receiving an axle-like support upon which the reel may be mounted. 
     
     
       9. A reel as defined in claim 1, and including said hub being formed of at least two separate, substantially identical rings engaged end-to-end, with the rings being separable and interchangeable with like rings. 
     
     
       10. A reel as defined in claim 9, and each of the rings having aligned, open-sided passageways formed integral with its interior wall surfaces and with the rings being held together by removable, elongated, bolt-like fasteners which extend through the aligned passageways of the rings and through the opposite flanges. 
     
     
       11. A reel as defined in claim 10, and including the adjacent edges of the two rings having interfitted tongue and groove members formed thereon for interengaging said edges. 
     
     
       12. A reel as defined in claim 10, and including passageways formed of tube-like molded portions integrally formed on the inside walls of the rings and extending inwardly in an axial direction relative to the rings. 
     
     
       13. A reel as defined in claim 1, and including the seats on the flanges being formed as annular grooves into which the adjacent narrow edges of the hubs are fitted. 
     
     
       14. A reel as defined in claim 13, and including the flanges being formed of at least two flange sections, with the flange sections being removable and replaceable with like size and shape sections and with the diameters of the sections being selectively variable for forming different diameter size flanges as desired. 
     
     
       15. A reel as defined in claim 1, and including the flanges being forming of a number of substantially identical radial sections, and wherein the radius of each of the sections may be varied for assembling desired diameter flanges. 
     
     
       16. A reel formed of a central hub with radially outwardly extending side flanges on the opposite ends of the hub, comprising: the hub being formed of a number of thin-wall, plastic-molded, relatively wide rings having an exterior wall surface about which an article may be wound, and an interior wall surface and opposite, narrow, annular edges defining the opposite ends of the rings, with the rings being arranged end-to-end;   the flanges being formed in a generally flat, disk-like shape having a central portion for overlapping the ends of the hub and an outer portion for extending radially outwardly of the hub;   the opposite ends of the hub engaging an annular seat in three adjacent faces of the flanges;   the flanges being formed of a number of plastic-molded, substantially identical, radial sections, with each section having an exterior peripheral edge defining a portion of the periphery of the flange, and having an outer portion forming part of the flange between the flange peripheral edge and the hub, and an inner portion overlapping a portion of the hub;   the sections each having a radially directed edge, with adjacent section edges being interengaged and fastened together by mechanical fasteners to form a rigid complete flange;   elongated passageways integrally molded on the interior surface of the hub wall, with the passageways being circumferentially spaced apart and being arranged parallel to the axis of the hub;   elongated bolt-like fasteners extending through the passageways and through corresponding aligned openings formed in the flange portions overlapping the ends of the hub, with the fasteners rigidly securing the flanges to the hubs;   said fasteners being selectively removable for disassembling the rings from each other and from the flanges;   whereby different flange sections may be interchanged with each other and fastened together to form flanges of preselected diameters and the number of hub rings may be varied for varying the width of the reel, with the reel hub rings and flanges being disassemblable from each other and into separate sections for facilitating non-use handling and storage.   
     
     
       17. A reel as defined in claim 16, and including groove-like seats formed on the surfaces of the flanges for receiving the adjacent end portions of the hub rings for connecting the rings and the flanges together. 
     
     
       18. A reel as defined in claim 17, and including a number of pie-slice-shaped sections forming each of the flanges, with the adjacent radial edges of the adjacent sections mechanically fastened together.